What Are You Saying?

Mahima: When the mind has gone up to Him, does one then stay with the family any more?

Sri Ramakrishna: What are you saying? Where will you go if you don’t stay in family? I clearly see that I am in Rama’s Ayodhya wherever I may be. This family life, this worldly life, is Rama’s Ayodhya. Having received spiritual knowledge from his guru Dasharath, Rama said, ‘I will renounce the family life (world).’ Dasharath called Vaishishtha to make Rama change his mind. Vaishishtha saw that Rama was under deep dispassion. He then said, ‘Rama, first reason it out with me; you may renounce the world later. Well, tell me, is this world without God? If that be so, you may renounce it.’ Rama understood that God Himself has become the world, its creatures ­ everything. It is because of His power that one perceives everything as real. Rama became silent then.

“You have to fight against lust, anger and so on in the worldly life; you have to fight against various desires. You have to fight against attachment. If the fight is given from inside the fort, it is convenient: ­ it is better to fight living in the household. Here you get food, the wife helps you in so many ways. In Kaliyuga, life depends on food. It is better to be at one place than to roam about from place to place for food. This is as if fighting from inside the fort of household.

....

‘‘A person who is jivanmukta (liberated in this very life), may live the family life if he so wills. For a man who has attained jnana, there is nothing like ‘here’ and ‘there’. It is all the same for him. Everything ‘here’ as well as ‘there’ belongs to Him.”

-- Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Volume 1, Section XIII, Chapter 4

The Great, the Good, the Wise

We are told that "Zarathushtra was descended from a kingly family," and also that the first converts to his doctrines were of the ruling caste. But the priesthood, "the Kavis and the Karapans, often succeeded in bringing the rulers over to their side." So we find that, in this fight, the princes of the land divided themselves into two opposite parties, as we find in India in the Kurukshetra war. "With the princes have the Kavis and the Karapans united, in order to corrupt man by their evil deeds." Among the princes that stood against Zarathushtra, as his enemies, the mighty Bendva might be included, who is mentioned in Yasna, 49, 1-2. From the context we may surmise that he stood on the side of the infidels. A family or a race of princely blood were probably the Grehma (Yasna, 32, 12-14). Regarding them it is said that they "having allied with the Kavis and the Karapans, have established their power in order to overpower the prophet and his partisans. In fact, the opposition between the pious and the impious, the believers and the unbelievers, seem very often to have led to open combat. The prophet prays to Ahura that he may grant victory to his own, when both the armies rush together in combat, whereby they can cause defeat among the wicked, and procure for them strife and trouble."

There is evidence in our Indian legends that in ancient India also there have been fights between the representatives of the orthodox faith and the Kshatriyas, who, owing to their own special vocation, had a comparative freedom of mind about the religion of external observances. The proofs are strong enough to lead us to believe that the monotheistic religious movement had its origin and principal support in the kingly caste of those days, though a great number of them fought to oppose it.

I have discussed in another place the growth in ancient India of the moral and spiritual element in her religion which had accompanied the Indian Aryan people from the time of the Indo-Iranian age, showing how the struggle with its antagonistic force has continued all through the history of India. I have shown how the revolution which accompanied the teachings of Zarathushtra, breaking out into severe fights, had its close analogy in the religious revolution in India whose ideals are still preserved in the Bhagavadgita.

It is interesting to note that the growth of the same ideal in the same race in different geographical situations has produced results that, in spite of their unity, have some aspect of difference. The Iranian monotheism is more ethical, while the Indian is more metaphysical in its character. Such a difference in their respective spiritual developments was owing, no doubt, to the more active vigour of life in the old Persians and the contemplative quietude of mind in the Indians. This distinction in the latter arises in a great measure out of the climatic conditions of the country, the easy fertility of the soil and the great stretch of plains in Northern India affording no constant obstacles in physical nature to be daily overcome by man, while the climate of Persia is more bracing and the surface of the soil more rugged. The Zoroastrian ideal has accepted the challenge of the principle of evil and has enlisted itself in the fight on the side of Ahura Mazda, the great, the good, the wise. In India, although the ethical side is not absent, the emphasis has been more strongly laid on subjective realisation through a stoical suppression of desire, and the attainment of a perfect equanimity of mind by cultivating indifference to all causes of joy and sorrow. Here the idea, over which the minds of men brooded for ages, in an introspective intensity of silence, was that man as a spiritual being had to realise the truth by breaking through his sheath of self. All the desires and feelings that limit his being are keeping him shut in from the region of spiritual freedom.

In man the spirit of creation is waiting to find its ultimate release in an ineffable illumination of Truth. The aspiration of India is for attaining the infinite in the spirit of man. On the other hand, as I have said before, the ideal of Zoroastrian Persia is distinctly ethical. It sends its call to men to work together with the Eternal Spirit of Good in spreading and maintaining Kshatra, the Kingdom of Righteousness, against all attacks of evil. This ideal gives us our place as collaborators with God in distributing His blessings over the world.

"Clear is this all to the man of wisdom as to the man who carefully thinks; he who upholds Truth with all the might of his power, he who upholds Truth the utmost in his word and deed, he, indeed, is thy most valued helper, O Mazda Ahura!"-Yasna, 31-22.

It is, in fact, of supreme moment to us that the human world is in an incessant state of war between that which will save us and that which will drag us into the abyss of disaster. Our one hope lies in the fact that Ahura Mazda is on our side if we choose the right course. The law of warfare is severe in its character; it allows no compromise.

"None of you:" says Zarathushtra, "shall find the doctrine and precepts of the wicked; because thereby he will bring grief and death in his house and village, in his land and people! No, grip your sword and cut them down!"-Yasna, 31, 18.

-- Rabindranath Tagore, Forward to The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra

The Sublime Vision

The adorable Lord of all bliss, all love, all mercy
The supreme light that shines in my heart
The Lord who fed Sambandhar and Appar
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

The Great Ancient, the Goal of Yogis
The Supreme Purusha that dwells in the Puri
The Adi Deva, whom the Vedas sing of
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

The pillar of light which baffled Brahma and Vishnu
The ocean of mercy who saved Markandeya
The Lord of Madurai whom the Pandya beat
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

The supreme Teacher who taught the four
The Adi Deva who has assumed the five
Parama, Vyuha, Vibhava, Archa and Antaryamin,
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

The Lord who pervades the universe
The thread-soul, the Sutratman,
The over-soul, the purport of Srutis
Him I saw at the abode, of Rishis.

The effulgence who is above the Three
Who exists even after the Pralaya
Who saved Kannappa and Sundarar
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

He who drank the poison and saved the world,
He who danced at Chidambaram,
He who shines as the Jyotirlinga
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

He who brought the jackal-horses to Pandya
He who gave pearl-palanquin to Sambandhar
He who is the essence of Panchakshara
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

He who dwells in Banares and Vedas,
In Ramesvar, Arunachal and Kanchi,
In the hearts of all beings
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

He who pleaded on behalf of Darumi
He who dwells in Kailas with Uma
He who restored the eyesight of Sundarar
Him I saw at the abode of Rishis.

A Time for Action

Girish: "What? Book-learning? I have seen enough of it. It can't fool me any more.

Master (with a smile): "Do you know my attitude? Books, scriptures, and things like that only point out the way to reach God. After finding the way, what more need is there of books and scriptures? Then comes the time for action.

"A man received a letter from home informing him that certain presents were to be sent to his relatives. The names of the articles were given in the letter. As he was about to go shopping for them, he found that the letter was missing. He began anxiously to search for it, several others joining in the search. For a long time they continued to search. When at last the letter was discovered, his joy knew no bounds. With great eagerness he opened the letter and read it. It said that he was to buy five seers of sweets, a piece of cloth, and a few other things. Then he did not need the letter any more, for it had served its purpose. Putting it aside, he went out to buy the things. How long is such a letter necessary? As long as its contents are not known. When the contents are known one proceeds to carry out the directions.

"In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work. Only then can you attain your goal.
....
"The almanac forecasts the rainfall tor the year. You may squeeze the book, but you won't get a drop of water — not even a single drop." (Laughter.)

Santosha

The Heart of Rakab

Pantheism

To practice pantheism (or "holotheism") is to see-and-love the infinite knowledge, power, and bliss of Reality in each portion of existence.

Desi Bible to Have Verses from Vedas, Upanishads

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pictures of a turbaned Joseph and sari-clad Mary with baby Jesus in an "Indianised" version of the Bible is set to create waves across the country. In a unique experiment, the Catholic Church is coming out with a version of the Bible with verses from ancient Indian texts like the Upanishads and Vedas to explain the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

This is an unprecedented attempt to encourage a contextual reading and understanding of the Bible, says the church spokesman, Paul Thelakat.

"The Biblical text remains the same but verses from Vedas and Upanishads have been used to interpret Christian teachings," says Thelakat. As far as Catholics are concerned, they have to live and interpret their Christian faith and scriptures within the given culture, he adds.

Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop Sosa Pakiam, in his preface to the Bible, says a unique feature of the new Bible is that it has many references to the spiritual message and Biblical values found in the scriptures of other great Indian religions.

Understanding the Guru

"An Indian will listen to his guru, nod his head, and go home and, even if he's a deeply religious person, ignore fifty per cent of what the guru has told him, because his own sense of the world tells him to do that," an Indian man who is well versed in Yogic culture said to me recently. But Westerners who jump heart first into a cloistered Indian subculture do not always find it easy to distinguish what is spiritual from what is Indian-or merely the whim of the guru."

Keep the Faith

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.

Warning: Belief-O-Matic™ assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul.

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

1.	Hinduism (100%)
2.	Mahayana Buddhism (98%)
3.	Neo-Pagan (98%)
4.	Jainism (94%)
5.	Sikhism (93%)
6.	New Age (79%)
7.	Bahá'í Faith (78%)
8.	Unitarian Universalism (75%)
9.	Orthodox Judaism (74%)
10.	Liberal Quakers (73%)
11.	Reform Judaism (69%)
12.	Theravada Buddhism (63%)
13.	Islam (62%)
14.	New Thought (49%)
15.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (48%)
16.	Orthodox Quaker (48%)
17.	Taoism (46%)
18.	Scientology (44%)
19.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (38%)
20.	Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (36%)
21.	Secular Humanism (35%)
22.	Seventh Day Adventist (35%)
23.	Eastern Orthodox (29%)
24.	Roman Catholic (29%)
25.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (27%)
26.	Jehovah's Witness (27%)
27.	Nontheist (21%)

Come and See

No religion is perfect. All religions make mistakes. (True, in the great-scheme-of-things, all is perfect and there are no mistakes; but I'm talking about a more pedestrian sort of imperfection and mistakenness.) For many people, there is no one religion that they totally agree with 100% in all matters of doctrine and practice.

Some members of a religion would say that, if you don't agree 100% in all matters of doctrine and practice, then you shouldn't be a member of the religion in question. Balderdash! Poppycock! They're flimflamming, bamboozling, hoodwinking with such statements. From an Abrahamic perspective, God may not have created this world imperfect, but He certainly has allowed it to continue in such a state of being, and to search for perfection in religion (which is certainly composed of imperfect beings and ideas) is about as smart as to search for perfection in a human being.

The purpose of religion is spiritual transmission, not perfection in either doctrine or practice. Start from the baseline that all religions are imperfect and mistaken, to one degree or another. For some, such a realization might lead them to dispense with religion altogether. For others, it might lead them to remain in the religion to which they currently belong. For some others, it opens up a different sort of possibility: the question becomes, which religion exhibits spiritually potency, doctrinal differences and institutional failings notwithstanding?

There are two ways to approach the spiritual life. One way is the way of submission: one simply accepts whatever a particular religious tradition teaches as being true and good. The way of submission is a venerable path, but it's not the only choice. Unfortunately, the way of submission has dominated much of Christian history.

The second way is the way of "come and see", scientific-tantra, noetic experimentation, or spiritual empiricism: one tests the doctrines and practices within one's own body-mind, adopting what proves true and good, and putting to the side what does not. The way of scientific-tantra has not dominated Christian history and practice, but it does exist.

At the Level

At the level of doctrine, the religions are very different,

because ideas and words are very different.

At the level of the experience and embodiment of the heart, the religions are the same,

because there is no religion there.

Truly, there is no need to convert from one religion to another.

When you know

that Christ is the "I am" of Advaita...

that Allah is the Power of Nirvana...

then you can praise Siva during Mass,

and take refuge in the Buddha in the Mosque.

Zwei Bedeutungen (Two Meanings)

"Christ" has two meanings. The first meaning refers to one who is "anointed with oil". "Oil" here refers to the "amrita" or "soma" that is produced by the brain during the processes of spiritual transformation. Thus, one who has spiritually transformed, is a "Christ". The second meaning of "Christ" points to the action of spiritual activity itself, also called "sadhana" or "yoga". When symbolizing yoga, "Christ" may be spelled "christ".

"He who is endowed with wisdom, frees himself in this very life, both from worrying about his 'bad' deeds and glorying in his 'good' deeds. Therefore, one should devote oneself to christ. Indeed, christ is skill in action."
-- Inspired by Bhagavad Gita II:50

The Four Turnings

The history of religions is the history of the four turnings of the Wheel of Truth. Each religion has elements of all four turnings, but each religion usually emphasizes one turning or another.

First Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of Jivanta: The Encounter with Truth

Second Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Buddha: The Incarnation of Truth

Third Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Beloved: The Liberation into Truth

Fourth Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Heart: The Tantric-Eucharistic Union of Incarnation-Liberation

[Inspired by the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.]

Vedanta Vallabha

Stephen Schaffer, better known as Shyamdas, was launched into his spiritual quest at age 17 through contact with Neemkaroli Baba. Now 33, Shyamdas is an avid practitioner of the Vaishnava Vallabhacharya lineage (Pushti Marg, or the Path of Grace), having studied for 7 years with various Vaishnava pundits in the Vrindavan area of India. He is a translator of Hindi, Braja Vasa and Sanskrit and Vice President of the International Pushti Margiya Vaishnava Parishad. An art dealer by profession, Shyamdas resides with his wife in Vermont. He lectures on various aspects of Hinduism and publishes his English translations of Vallab sampradaya scriptures into English. Shyamdas shared the following insights with Hinduism Today in Hawaii on March 14, 1986.

Hinduism Today: Please tell us how you became involved so deeply in the Vallabhacharya sampradaya.

Shyamdas: I went to India, got going there originally by a teacher, Neemkaroli Baba, who was the guru of Ram Dass and he resided in Vrindavan as well as in the Himalayas. So I went to Vrindavan to meet him and remained in the Vrindavan area, a 168-mile area which encompasses all the areas that are sacred to Lord Krishna. I eventually took initiation in Vallab sampradaya about a year or two afterward and lived on the Goverdan hill, which was the hill which Lord Krishna upheld to ward off Indra's rains for 7 days. There I studied with various bhaktas and acharyas on Vaisnav Vedanta. I specialize in 16th century Vrajbhasha poetry which are the poems of Surdas, who is very well known. He is perhaps the Shakespeare of Hindi literature, like Jayadev is the Shakespeare of the Sanskrit devotional literature. Surdas and Tulsidas. Surdas is considered the sun of bhakti devotion, and Tulsidas, who wrote on Rama, would be considered the moon. So I studied the poems of Surdas and I translated his life story and many of his poems, and those of a number of other poets.

I also studied Vedanta, Shuddha Advaita Vedanta of Vallabhacharya, which could be translated as "realistic monism." Vaishnavism has a number of schools, four main schools: Nimbarka, Madhva, Ramanuja (often known as Sri Sampradaya) and Vallab sampradaya. Vallab sampradaya's realistic monism is different from Shankara's interpretation of monism and parallels closely Kashmiri Shaivism and perhaps other forms of Saivism as well in that it is a real advaita philosophy that does not incorporate Shankaracharya's theories of maya, the world being false. The world Is true. But what could be false about the world is the way we see it But the world itself is true and is the manifestation of the Supreme Godhead...Vallab sampradaya believes that everything is Krishna and nothing but Krishna.

Q: Who is your guru?

A: My teacher is His Holiness Goswami Prathameshji, who heads the first seat of Vallab sampradaya. Vallab sampradaya has seven seats. He is very active in Hindu activities. He does a lot of preaching. Hindu Vishwa Parishad invites him to many of the functions.

Vallab sampradaya does not have a monk lineage per se. It's a primarily householder lineage. None of the teachers in Vallab sampradaya are sannyasins. They are all grihastha. They are all householder. That is the way the lineage was set up, unlike the other Vaishnav sampradayas. Some of them are more oriented toward sannyas. The ISKCON lineage is more sannyas oriented.

Q: Do the goswamis wear orange?

A: No, no. White. It is an extremely Vedic sampradaya. Householders are traditionally initiating gurus, too. That is something that is according to Vedic teachings, that sannyasis initiate sannyasis, and householders traditionally initiate householders. The acharyas in Vallab sampradaya observe homa and other Vedic rites as well. Of course bhakti is the main emphasis...Vallab sampradaya has a following of perhaps 30 million people. It is one of the largest Vaishnav sampradayas in India. It is not well known in the West. Its followers are all through Gujarat...And in London you have thousands of Vallab sampradaya Vaishnavas.

Vallab sampradaya is also not well known in the West. There has not been much written in English on it. And what has been written by other people who were not initiated nor studied with the lineage is often incorrect. And that is what I have been trying poetic aspect and some which have to do with its Vedantic side.

Vallab sampradaya is centered in the lilakirtan which means singing the exploits or the divine pastimes of Sri Krishna in a more classical Indian raga system. And Vallab sampradaya is very oriented towards seva, the worship of the swarupa or deity. In Vaishnavism there is no lineage that has such sublime worship - I would not call it temple worship because the worship is supposed to be a private home worship, although there are temples. It is taught in Vallab sampradaya that you should always worship Krishna. One of the ways is offering food and ornamentation, music and bhajan.

Q: Could you elaborate on your perception of Sri Adi Shankara's impact on Hinduism especially in the West.

A: Let me first say I think Shankara was a genius. I don't think there is any teacher, from Saivism to Vaishnvism, who has written as beautiful Sanskrit as Shankaracharya. He was a fantastic writer and a great teacher of what he was teaching. But if you want to view Shankara in the spirit of Vedic teachings, I think there is a problem. Number one, he is called "Buddha in disguise" by many of the earlier teachers, and this is correct. At the time Shankaracharya appeared in India, India was fairly Buddhist, and Shankaracharya could not teach a true Vedic school, because Vedic school teaches of an atma or a soul, and Buddhism does not have an atma concept, per se, and they don't accept the soul existing within the body. Shankaracharya could not bring the theistic aspect of the Vedas directly back to the people because they were too influenced by the teachings of Buddha. So what he did was bring in a teaching which was cloaked in Vedic terminology and mirrored Buddhist teachings. He brought in the pantheon of all the Hindu devas, but his teachings were essentially Buddhist to a large part. When Shankaracharya writes about Buddhism, he is unable to criticize it directly because it parallels his own thinking too much. So he just says the whole school is too ridiculous to even comment on.

Shankaracharya's theory of maya is not supported in the Upanishads. It's not supported in the Brahma Sutras and it's not supported in the Vedas - as the world being false, that this world is an illusion, a dream with no substance and in some way separate from God. This is not a Vedantic thought. Even Western scholars who are impartial who have studied the Brahma Sutras and have studied the teachings of Shankara and, let's say one of the Vaishnav teachers, Ramanuja or Madhva - they would have to side with Ramanuja as being more true to the spirit of the Brahma Sutras.

Q: Why do you think Shankara's teachings have been so popular in the West?

A: I think perhaps because many of the Western practitioners who go into Eastern studies have had it with Western theology. They are either disenchanted with the heaven/hell duality of Christianity and with the personal Godhead as being a father image that strikes terror in the hearts of those who sin against him. They are afraid of a god image, so they move toward something that is far away from it, which is Shankara. Shankara does give respect to all the different deities, to Krishna to Ram to Shiva. But to him, in the final analysis they are mayic. They are illusion, and you must leave all of them and merge into the Ultimate Formless, which for him is the final state. This, I think has appealed to many Westerners because they didn't want any sort of Godhead or God in between them and their final liberation of Ultimate White or Nothingness.

And I think it's because of a lack of study of the true Vedic teachings which do point to a personal theistic deity, if you are going through Saivite or Vaishnavite traditions. And the teachers who have come from India have been predominantly influenced by the Shankaracharya teachings,...because Shankara had such a strong influence on the Indian teachings. He swept India. He was only 36 years old when he left, but he had left such an impression on the Indian mind that even today in India if you say the word Vedanta, people think that you are speaking about Shankara. They say, "Oh, he is a Vedanti," which in certain circles means that he is a follower of Shankara, which is not correct. Vedanta means Vedanta: that which is the end [or final conclusion] of the Veda or knowledge.

This confusion which Shankara put into the world of this world being false means that Shankara's teachings must also be false. So there are certain contradictions. He says the world is false, and he is Jagadguru, meaning guru of the world. This means he is guru of the false world. There are many many problems when we look into the actual teachings of Shankaracharya (If it is an illusion, where did the illusion come from?), if you want to get into the subtleties of where Shankara faltered. And this has always been a great spirit of the Vaishnavas and the Shankaracharyas to have debates, which I think is good, because if you want to have a debate about something it should to do. I've published five or six books on the different aspects of Vallab sampradaya, some historical, some having to do with its be a debate about the Ultimate Reality as opposed to just squabbling about commonplace matters.

Q: Do you agree with the idea that Shankara overlaid his mayavadin philosophy onto the prevailing theistic religion?

A: Yes. Today if in fact you visit some of the Shankaracharya tents when you visit the Kumba Mela, you'll see that the Shankaracharya lineages have Rama and Krishna lila, the play in which children between 10 and 15 enact the pastimes of Krishna. Shankaracharya has these. They ultimately have to go back into the whole Hindu trip of Krishna and Rama and Shiva and all the different pastimes to try to attract followers into their fold to ultimately tell them that it's all false. It's wild and that's what most Westerners follow.

But then again, I think that the concept of Sanatana Dharma is so great that it allows for these things to occur...I may have said something about Shankaracharya, how I don't personally agree with his interpretation, but I respect Shankaracharya...Contradictions can exist within truth, and no one has a turnkey formula. That is one of the most important concepts of Vedantic thought, that the person who says he knows, doesn't know. And the person who says he doesn't know knows. Hinduism is perhaps the only religion in the world that has allowed an incarnation to establish a religion which is anti-Vedic in its actual teachings. What other religion would accept a teacher who taught against their own school? It is a mind-boggling religion if you try to look at it and say this is Hinduism. Hinduism is so broad that to study any particular school of Hinduism would take at least one lifetime and probably several. And to try to make broad, sweeping statements about Hinduism being this or that-Hinduism has the most theistic attitudes of any religion in the world, and it has attitudes that are almost atheistic in terms of the very abstract forms of yoga that don't give importance to the Godhead and just give importance to deep contemplation and samadhi. It's got everything in between. It's got tantra. It's got devotion. It's got Goddess worship. It's got sacrifice. It's got a complete code of law. It's a complete religious system that did not separate art, music, science, philosophy, medicine, from its actual main scriptures. So hence you have all the different branches of the Vedas. It was not essentially a religion. It was a dharma.

Jivanta Guru-Bhakti Yoga

In Jivanta dharma, the primary, or root, Guru is the Divine Couple, the Heart and the Beloved. The secondary Guru consists of the Buddhas and the Jivanta. The root Guru may take human form. The veneration of the root Guru follows the principles of Guru-Bhakti Yoga ("devotion to the Guru"). A devotee of an embodied root Guru necessarily sees his root Guru as the Highest or as in unsurpassable communion with the Highest: such conceptualization follows from the Guru-Principle of Singularity, as enunciated by Swami Sivananda:

From a doctor you get a prescription. From two doctors you get consultation. From three doctors you get your own cremation.

Even so, if you have many Gurus you will be bewildered. You will be at a loss to know what to do. One Guru will tell you: “Do Soham Japa”. Another will tell you “Do Japa of Sri Ram.” A third Guru will tell you “Hear Anahata Sounds”. You will be puzzled. Stick to one Guru and follow his instructions.

The traditional Christian emphasis upon the unique salvificity of Jesus (Jesus as the embodied root Guru of the Christian) can thus be more fully understood as a necessary part of spiritual sadhana, a part accepted by serious practitioners of all lineages and traditions. The traditional Christian emphasis reflects the divine physics of Enlightenment. All Yogas begin and end in Guru-Bhakti Yoga. Without Guru-Bhakti Yoga, there is no true religion. Swami Sivananda refers specifically to the embodied root Guru, below, but such statements can also be applied to the non-bodily bound Heart-Beloved:

52. A Guru is necessary for every aspirant in the spiritual path.

53. It is only a Guru who will be able to unveil the mystery and meaning of real life and show the way to God-realisation.

54. It is only a preceptor who can teach the disciple the secret about Sadhana.

55. An ideal Guru is one who has attained God-realisation.

56. Such a Guru is pure in thought, word and deed.

57. He has mastery over the senses and the mind.

58. He has knowledge of all the scriptures and is simple, kind and truthful.

59. Guru will be able to awaken the hidden divine power in the innermost core of disciple’s heart.

60. If a disciple has done good Karma in his previous births, if he is doing them now, and if he is sincere and longing for God, he will be sure to meet the real Guru.

61. To derive the full benefit from the Guru, disciple must have implicit faith in him and true devotion for him.

62. The disciple will achieve results in proportion to his faith in his Guru.

63. It is the spiritual teacher who will show the way and finally lead one to God.

64. Guru is none but God Himself in human form.

Jivanta Vedas

The Supreme Scriptures of Jivanta include:
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita;
I Am That; and
Natchintanai.

The Primal Scriptures of Jivanta include:
Bhagavad Gita;
Il Combattimento Spirituale;
Bodhicharyavatara; and
Discourses.

The Glorious Scriptures of Jivanta include both Jewish and Christian Shruti ("that which is heard") and Smriti ("that which is remembered"):

Yahadut Veda ("The Jewish Bible"):

Torah Samhita ("The Pentateuch"): examples include
Book I: Beresheit ("Genesis")
Book III: Vayiqra ("Leviticus")

Neviim Samhita ("The Prophets"): examples include
Book VI: Yehoshua ("Joshua")
Book VII: Shoftim ("Judges")

Ketuviim Samhita ("The Wisdom"): examples include
Book XIV: Tehillim ("Proverbs")
Book XXIV: Divrei Ha-Yamim ("Chronicles")

Yahadut Veda is composed of 24 (3 x 8) Books.

Christic Veda ("The New Testament"):

Euangelos Samhita ("The Gospels"): examples include
Book I: Maththaion ("Matthew")
Book II: Markon ("Mark")

Historia Samhita ("The Acts of the Apostles"): composed of Book V

Epistolai-Paulou Samhita ("The Pauline Letters"): examples include
Book VI: Romaious ("Romans")
Book VII: Korinthious A ("1st Corinthians")

Epistolai Samhita ("The General Letters"): examples include
Book XIX: Ebraious ("Hebrews")
Book XX: Yakobou ("James")

Apocalypsos Samhita ("The Book of Revelation"): composed of Book XXVII

Christic Veda is composed of 27 (3 x 9) Books.

Christic Grahas

"Christ" in Greek is χριστος. Each of the seven letters refers to the grahas in order, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn:

χ for Krittika, the first nakshatra ruled by the Sun.
ρ for Rohini, the first nakshatra ruled by the Moon.
ι for Indra, the Liberator of the Oppressed, the Glorifier of the Blind and Handicapped.
σ for Shiksha, the science of phonetics and phonology -- in other words, of the Word.
τ for Trivikrama, whose three steps conquered Heaven, Earth, and Hell.
ο for Ojas, the spiritual energy into which sexual energy transforms.
ς for Shanti, Peace.

In The Beginning

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, First Adhyaya, Fourth Brahmana, 1-5:

1. In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a person (purusha). He looking round saw nothing but his Self. He first said, 'This is I;' therefore he became I by name. Therefore even now, if a man is asked, he first says, 'This is I,' and then pronounces the other name which he may have. And because before (pûrva) all this, he (the Self) burnt down (ush) all evils, therefore he was a person (pur-usha). Verily he who knows this, burns down every one who tries to be before him.

2. He feared, and therefore any one who is lonely fears. He thought, 'As there is nothing but myself, why should I fear?' Thence his fear passed away. For what should he have feared? Verily fear arises from a second only.

3. But he felt no delight. Therefore a man who is lonely feels no delight. He wished for a second. He was so large as man and wife together. He then made this his Self to fall in two (pat), and thence arose husband (pati) and wife (patnî). Therefore Yâgñavalkya said: 'We two are thus (each of us) like half a shell.' Therefore the void which was there, is filled by the wife. He embraced her, and men were born.

4. She thought, 'How can he embrace me, after having produced me from himself? I shall hide myself.'

She then became a cow, the other became a bull and embraced her, and hence cows were born. The one became a mare, the other a stallion; the one a male ass, the other a female ass. He embraced her, and hence one-hoofed animals were born. The one became a she-goat, the other a he-goat; the one became a ewe, the other a ram. He embraced her, and hence goats and sheep were born. And thus he created everything that exists in pairs, down to the ants.

5. He knew, 'I indeed am this creation, for I created all this.' Hence he became the creation, and he who knows this lives in this his creation.

Jivanta Sutra

I. Solar causal soul shines bright with faith.

II. Lunar emotional mind smiles content with happiness.

III. Mercurial intellectual mind knows how to discriminate between the good and the bad.

IV. Venusian energy body demonstrates love and compassion.

V. Terrestrial physical body endures pleasure and pain.

VI. Martial physical action moves with vigor and justice.

VII. Jovial enjoyment comes through generosity.

VIII. Discipline penetrates saturnian dissatisfaction.

IX. Rahuvian wish, desire, and will, transform into

X. Ketuvian release of greed, lust, and fear, into the marriage of consciousness and light.

The Heart simply is.

The Beloved is the purest and highest will and purpose.

Jivanta is the world of impermanence, change, and evolution.

The Buddha is the tantric union and embodiment of the the purest and highest will amidst impermanence, change, and evolution.

Find one's purest and highest will and purpose.

Embody that will and purpose in the world of impermanence, change, and evolution.

Fulfill that embodiment as a Buddha.

Celebrate that tantric union as the Heart.

Like Beads on a String

I am not come to establish any cult, society or organization; nor even to establish a new religion. The religion that I shall give teaches the Knowledge of the One behind the many. The book that I shall make people read is the book of the heart that holds the key to the mystery of life. I shall bring about a happy blending of the head and the heart. I shall revitalize all religions and cults, and bring them together like beads on one string.

-- Meher Baba